As a past president of the Ward One Residents Association I can say with confidence that its policy has always been to oppose making the downtown a generic event venue because it puts too great a strain on the delicate balance of residential and business uses there.On the other hand, events and institutions that reflect the special history and character of Annapolis are to be encouraged.A National Sailing Hall of Fame passes that test.Many people seem to have forgotten that the Association supported the original Whitbread Race — with a unanimous vote of a quorum of the membership at an open meeting.For years Ward One had a booth at the boat shows, which it gave up only because it became harder and harder to find residents with time to volunteer. More recently, I had not heard a single Ward One member express opposition to establishment of the Hall of Fame at City Dock.But as the details were gradually disclosed, the doubts multiplied.

Because I am also a past president of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association and a past chairman of what is now called the Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission, the then Ward One president asked me to serve on the citizens advisory committee that was formed by the Hall of Fame boosters – precisely in the hope that I could bridge some gaps which might arise.As it happened, that group met once and then was abandoned. And I found myself troubled by the sailing aspect of the proposal, more specifically the boosters’ apparent lack of interest in the relatively non-elitist historic origins of “yacht” racing.

When the City’s original Hall of Fame proposal was first circulated a few years ago, it was a modest one – restore the house on the site and turn it into a museum.This seemed perfect to me.The on-site Captain Burtis House is about the same age as Eastport’s Williams House (touted as the oldest house in Eastport). It’s the last remnant of the Hell Point maritime community (most of the rest was lost to federal condemnation for the Naval Academy before the federal government became more enlightened about historic preservation).It currently houses the Maryland Natural Resources Police, a direct descendant of the State Oyster Police (better known as the “Oyster Navy”).

Established by the General Assembly in 1868 to protect the Chesapeake Bay’s 356,000 acres of natural oyster bars from excess and unlicensed dredging by “oyster pirates,” at the outset the Oyster Navy had one side-wheel steamer and two sailboats to cover all that ground.At its peak, it had two steamers, four schooners, and six sloops.The house on the proposed Hall of Fame site was home to William Burtis, who served as one of the captains in the Oyster Navy and leased his wharf to the Oyster Navy for their boats.

I can’t remember where I first heard it, maybe from Gary Jobson, but it’s now a standard joke in the sailing world that the first sailboat race undoubtedly occurred the first time one boat came within sight of another.Fast sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay certainly raced for serious functional reasons – the fastest log canoe or bugeye got its catch to market first, or evaded the sloops of the Oyster Navy if need be.Just imagine match-racing with the added tactical tool of firearms.The watermen in log canoes were reputed to be the fastest sailors on the Bay, and they could sail in waters too shallow for a faster steamer to follow.

The word “yacht” nowadays puts on airs, and is frequently criticized as elitist and off-putting.But its origins are as modest as the original plan for the Burtis property.According to an online etymological dictionary, it dates back at least to 1557, from “yeaghe, ‘a light, fast-sailing ship,’ probably from Norw. jaght, from M.L.G. jacht, shortened form of jachtschip ‘fast pirate ship,’ lit. ‘ship for chasing,’ from jacht ‘chase,’ from jagen ‘to chase, hunt,’ from O.H.G. jagon * * *.”That’s the true origin of sailboat racing — watermen, pirates, and maritime law enforcement — and the Captain Burtis House and its history make a perfect introduction to a Sailing Hall of Fame.

As Gary Jobson puts it in a promotional video, a laudable purpose of the Hall of Fame will be “educational,” to celebrate “unsung heroes and heritage” and “inspire youth involvement” and “outreach” to “new sectors of society.”However, I believe that the plan to eliminate the Captain Burtis House reflected a bit of putting on airs as well.If we really want to celebrate sailing’s unsung heroes and heritage, leaving the Captain Burtis House out of the story would have been a big step in the wrong direction.

]]>http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2011/01/23/the-oyster-navy-and-the-sailing-hall-of-fame/feed/0VIDEO: Gilbert Discusses His Vision for the Market Househttp://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/08/07/video-gilbert-discusses-his-vision-for-the-market-house/
http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/08/07/video-gilbert-discusses-his-vision-for-the-market-house/#commentsFri, 07 Aug 2009 14:34:04 +0000http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/?p=285
]]>http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/08/07/video-gilbert-discusses-his-vision-for-the-market-house/feed/1Transparencyhttp://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/07/07/transparency/
http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/07/07/transparency/#respondTue, 07 Jul 2009 18:41:47 +0000http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/?p=244As you have probably noticed, the blog “Annapolis Capital Punishment” has been rating the City political campaigns and has been down-rating my candidacy and my website for relative inactivity. Well, I can assure you that I am still in the race, still going strong, and still prepared to give Annapolis the mayor that it deserves and so badly needs to get past the egos and polarization that have poisoned politics at all levels for all too long.I intend to use my listening and mediation training and skills to bring all our citizens together in common cause to preserve and improve what’s special about our City.

In the interest of my promised transparency — a strong theme of mine, and one that I will continue to follow when elected Mayor of Annapolis — I wish to share some information which may explain some of my relative inactivity to date. I was subjected to a minor medical scare, during which I had to face the question whether my health was consistent with running a campaign and holding a full-time office.On March 25th, I underwent surgery for a large cyst on my thyroid.After removal of my thyroid and treatment to ensure no traces of cancer, I received a full body scan and a completely clean bill of health from my endocrinologist, Dr. Friend. While the past few months were spent juggling with recovery and the right balance of thyroid medication, my supporters and I have remained at work in pushing the issues which have been so important to me and the City of Annapolis.

With a clean bill of health, a love of Annapolis, and renewed energy to make this town the best that it can be for all its residents and businesses, I am anxious to get out on the street and talk to all of the Annapolitans who care to join in.So look for me out and about the town of Annapolis and your communities and tell me what’s on your mind.

In fact, join me!Become a volunteer and walk your precinct with me to help show people what a difference we can make together.Please call (410-269-1768) or e-mail (Gilbert.Renaut@GMail.com) to join the team.

]]>http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/07/07/transparency/feed/0The Market House Charette — Remember the Watermen!http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/06/02/142/
http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/2009/06/02/142/#respondTue, 02 Jun 2009 20:07:48 +0000http://www.gilbertrenaut.org/?p=142The City’s Market House charette (or charrette if you prefer) was pretty good for what it was, and turn-out was very good, but intense citizen involvement will continue to be important. There are several cautions to bear in mind. Once a government agency has one of these citizen-input exercises, the law doesn’t require the agency to follow the citizen recommendations. It can use it as cover to do whatever it wants to do.

All too typically the City has already decided the capacity of its new air conditioning system without knowing who the new tenants will be, in effect deciding that the tenants will have to fit the system (isn’t that what went wrong last time?). The City’s position is that it’s the biggest system they can fit into the space available, leaving them with maximum flexibility for tenants. Another thing that concerns me is that settlements or court decisions with the remaining trial plaintiffs might so constrain the future of the Market House that this is all an academic exercise. UPDATE: The Arundel Muckraker reports that the City has settled with all tenants as of this morning, June 8th, for about another $285,000. http://www.arundelmuckraker.com/storyview.asp?STORYID=10061

Additionally, the process started with some City-specified goals. Obviously, starting with goals begs some questions. On the other hand, I think the facilitator was right, too, that in order to get anywhere in one of these exercises you have to start somewhere. My own view, without wanting to close off discussion that might produce a better idea, is that the buy-local and eat-your-view movement is the way to go right now, so I was pleasantly surprised that the givens we started with were fairly vague but consistent with that movement. There is a group of citizens, residents and business-owners, working together on a buy-local plan that looks most promising to me.

However, there was a little confusion about what “local” means, whether the focus is on produced locally or owned locally, and I think that produced locally is the way to attract buyers and owned locally is the way to encourage engagement. But I do not want us to be playing games with “local” the way the chains do (at one of the supermarket chains, local means within a certain number of miles of one of their distribution centers, not the market itself).

Farmers were represented there, but I didn’t see or hear any sign of watermen. Since seafood certainly is one of the things that makes Annapolis special, I called the president of the Anne Arundel County Watermen’s Association and asked whether there were any local watermen left who might be interested in selling their daily catch there. His response: “Absolutely. I grew up in Annapolis and that’s where we used to sell it.”

Well here we go again. Apparently without any open bid process, the City has selected a “professional facilitator” for the mayor’s market house “charette.” Apparently it will be the firm that specializes in “nurturing restaurant franchisors” that was hired as an expert witness for the litigation. See http://franpointpartners.com/ If so, maybe they’ll be great at it, but how would anyone know?

Although their report is being described by the City as “lessons learned,” that’s very misleading. Expert witnesses in trial have exactly one function — to show that everything bad that happened was somebody else’s fault (the mayor’s position on, well, just about everything). Until the litigation is over I can guarantee that they will voice no lessons for the City itself, which would come back to haunt them at trial.

I urge residents to watch this process closely and get involved. We are all stakeholders.

The charette is scheduled for May 30th from 10 until 2 in Council Chambers at City Hall. If you want to participate, you must be there at 9:30 to sign up. N.B. The Capital says 9 am, but the City’s web site says 9:30. See http://www.ci.annapolis.md.us/display_ann.asp?ID=14035

There are too many variables and moving targets to say exactly what should happen next. The litigation with tenants is still scheduled for trial, and its outcome may have an impact on the Market House’s future. Additionally, there are people working on plans who should be allowed a full and fair hearing. For that reason I don’t want to be overly specific about what I want to happen. I recognize that there may well be better ideas out there than mine, and I do not want to discourage anyone from teaching me something. In general, I think the following is safe to say, however.

A new business plan for the market house will be prepared and published in the fall by the new city management team. The business plan should prepare for full occupancy of the market house and new tenants for successful and strong relationships with the city and finally acknowledge the learning curve necessary for building new businesses “from scratch.” It should include a strategic plan of 5, 10 and 20 year intervals.

A new solicitation will be issued to open up competition for new (and old) vendor owners. The new process will outline in great detail fair and open competition with explicit written criteria and time lines for occupancy, Above all, new merchants must be able to demonstrate their experience and commitment to excellent customer service and quality products.

Some years ago, the City attempted to turn McNasby’s into a watermen’s co-op. Regrettably it failed. But the landscape has changed since then. The buy-local and eat-local (“eat your view”) movements have achieved a much more widespread following. See http://www.buylocalannapolis.com/ To the extent possible, moderated by season and availability, all products sold in the market house should be sourced locally and identified as such for both local and tourist customers. They should represent the best products and quality available from our hard-working local farmers, watermen, and ranchers, and from our local farmland, rivers, and Bay.

A marketing plan should be drawn up and approved at multiple levels to include government and market house vendors on a regular basis.

To the extent possible, given the proprietary nature of the solicitation process, the business plan at every stage of development and implementation will be given its due treatment of transparency to the citizens of Annapolis through the internet, newspapers and other print media.